Young Sentinels (Wearing the Cape) (Volume 3) by Marion G. Harmon Page B

interior that still wasn’t there from the outside . Carefully removing the top tray with its four gold flasks, I pulled out the miniature tea set with its pack of Triple Trick Tea to get to the bottom and the acid-etched silver box labeled Glegg’s Question Box: Shake three times after each question .
    The guy had no imagination. The other box read Re-animating Rays, guaranteed to re-awaken any person who has lost the power of life through sorcery, witchcraft, or enchantment. If the rays didn’t work, did you get your money back?
    I held the Question Box up. “So? What do I ask?”
    “That was a question.”
    “Crap!” I shook the stupid thing three times, opened the sliding lid and carefully pulled out the slip of paper inside. Putting the box down, I unfolded the note. It read Ask what you’re doing today .
    “Seriously?”
    She laughed. “Go on.”
    I growled, asked, shook the damned box. This time the piece of paper read When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move along like I know you do! And even when your hope is gone
move along, move along just to make it through!
    “The All-American Rejects? Really?”
    Her laugh was crystal bells. “Well that’s a relief. The Question Box started rattling this morning, and I got a haiku about autumn and moving court. Pack your things, oh mighty Army of Oz — we are going somewhere.”

Chapter Seven: Astra
    These days more and more people are heard saying (and often shouting, cursing, or screaming inarticulately) “We need to know who they are!” Do we really?
    New York is a No Privacy State, and the only breakthroughs allowed to use their powers as first-responders there are cops. They wear supercop uniforms and take codenames on the side, but their identities are public and masks are verboten . Illinois is a Privacy State: any breakthrough here can shield his identity with a mask and a legal codename. If he wants to work with the police or emergency services, then the state needs to know who he is, but no one else. A third of all CAI heroes are masked mystery men. Guess which state has more superheroes and less superhuman crime?
    Terry Reinhold, Citywatch .
    ----
    “Your honor, I would like to call Astra, of the Chicago Sentinels, to the stand.”
    I took a deep breath and stepped past the oak rail. The courtroom was packed, and Judge Sanderson had threatened to clear the gallery if he saw another camera flash; it wasn’t often that a “mystery man” testified in court, and the newsies, wild and domesticated, smelled blood. Or hoped they did.
    I smiled briefly at the judge and jury, switched Malleus to my left hand so I could take the oath on the Bible, and sat at the judge’s invitation. Putting Malleus down with an audible thud, I adjusted my fringe of a skirt. Both Legal Eagle and Dan Raffles, the fresh young assistant DA prosecuting the case, had insisted I wear the velvet sapphire blue one-piece I thought of as my “skating costume.” I insisted on the maul and convinced them it was a good idea.
    Dan smiled at me. I smiled at him. We both smiled. I’d been coached .
    “Can you state your legal name for the court?” Dan opened.
    Smile. “My legal codename is Astra.”
    “Objection, your honor.” The defense attorney stood behind his table.
    “Grounds?” Judge Sanderson asked. He didn’t smile.
    “My client has a constitutional right to confront his accuser, your honor. Not someone hiding behind a mask and a fake name.”
    “Your honor, if I may approach the bench?” Dan had already stepped back, and when Sanderson nodded he returned with a page his assistant had ready. The judge accepted it without looking at it.
    “This point has been addressed before, your honor. Stacy v. Illinois . The Supreme Court of Illinois has ruled that state-granted aliases are fully legal identities so long as the state knows the person’s private identity and can hold that person liable for any perjury or malfeasance for actions committed under his